Urban Honolulu DUI Records

DUI records in Urban Honolulu are maintained by three separate agencies: the Honolulu Police Department, the First Circuit Court, and the Hawaii Criminal Justice Data Center. Each one handles a different type of record. Arrest reports come from HPD. Court case files live with the First Circuit Court. Criminal history records, which include conviction data, come from HCJDC. This guide explains how to access each type of Urban Honolulu DUI record, what it costs, and where to go.

HPD Records Division: Arrest Reports for DUI Cases

The Honolulu Police Department Records Division handles police report requests for DUI and OVUII arrests in Urban Honolulu. If you need a copy of an arrest report from an OVUII incident, this is where to start. The office is at 801 South Beretania Street, open Monday through Friday from 7:45 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. It is closed on weekends and state holidays. Requests are accepted in person or by mail. There is no online submission option for police reports.

Report copies cost $0.50 for the first page and $0.25 for each page after that. Colored copies are $0.65 per page. You can pay by cash, check, or cashier's check made payable to the City and County of Honolulu. Credit cards and debit cards are not accepted. All records are released under Hawaii Revised Statutes Chapter 92F, which means personal details such as names, Social Security numbers, and dates of birth are redacted before release. Full reports are only available after a case is fully closed.

HPD does not provide court records, criminal abstracts, or clearance letters. Those types of records come from the First Circuit Court and the Hawaii Criminal Justice Data Center, which are described below. When you contact HPD, have the police report number or the date, time, and location of the incident ready. For DUI crashes, you can request motor vehicle collision reports through the same office at 808-723-3258.

The HPD police reports page outlines the full process for requesting DUI arrest reports in Urban Honolulu, including what information to include in your request.

Review the HPD records page before you submit a request so you know exactly what to include and what to expect back.

First Circuit Court: DUI Case Records in Urban Honolulu

All DUI and OVUII cases in Urban Honolulu are filed in the First Circuit Court. The Honolulu District Court, also known as Kauikeaouli Hale, is the main courthouse for traffic matters including DUI. It is located at 1111 Alakea Street in downtown Honolulu. The Traffic Violations Bureau is also at this location. In-person services are first come, first served from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m., Monday through Friday.

Traffic abstracts show all alleged moving violations and any convictions, including DUI and OVUII cases, along with any administrative license revocations. The fee is $20 per abstract. You can request one by mail by sending a self-addressed stamped envelope, a money order or cashier's check for $20 payable to District Court, and the person's full name, date of birth, and driver's license number. Personal checks are not accepted. You can also get an abstract in person at the Traffic Violations Bureau.

Traffic court reports go a step further and include equipment and parking citations in addition to moving violations. They cost $1.00 for the first page and $0.50 for each additional page. Traffic court reports must be obtained in person at the courthouse with valid photo ID. They cannot be requested by mail.

Court cases can be viewed for free online using eCourt Kokua at the Hawaii State Judiciary traffic case records page. The system shows traffic case data from all district courts in Hawaii including Urban Honolulu DUI cases. The data is not a certified copy, but it gives you case status, hearing dates, and basic charge information.

Hawaii Criminal Justice Data Center: DUI Conviction Records

The Hawaii Criminal Justice Data Center (HCJDC) is the official statewide source for criminal conviction records. If you need to know whether someone has a DUI or OVUII conviction on their record in Hawaii, the HCJDC is where that search happens. The center only shows adult conviction information. Arrests that did not lead to convictions, or cases that are still pending, are not available to the general public.

The Hawaii Criminal Justice Data Center page explains how to request a criminal history record check, what is included in a standard report, and how the eCrim online portal works.

The HCJDC site walks you through both the online eCrim option and the in-person process for getting a criminal history record tied to a DUI case in Urban Honolulu.

The HCJDC is located at 465 South King Street, Room 102, Honolulu, HI 96813. Phone: (808) 587-3100. The Criminal History Record Checks Unit can be reached directly at (808) 587-3279. For online access, the eCrim portal at ecrim.ehawaii.gov allows you to search by name, date of birth, Social Security number, and gender. Each search costs $5.00. If you want an official eCrim report with the full results, the cost is $12. Both the search and the report purchase must be completed in a single logged-in session. If you log out or are idle for more than 30 minutes, you lose the search and have to start over.

The HCJDC also offers fingerprint-based background checks, which are more thorough than name-based searches. These take longer to process and require submitting fingerprint cards. For most DUI record searches, the name-based eCrim search or an in-person request at the HCJDC office will be enough.

OVUII Law and DUI Penalties in Hawaii

Hawaii calls its drunk driving offense "Operating a Vehicle Under the Influence of an Intoxicant," or OVUII. The offense is defined under Hawaii Revised Statutes Section 291E-61. A driver commits OVUII if they operate or assume physical control of a vehicle while impaired by alcohol or drugs, with a blood alcohol level of .08 grams or more per 100 milliliters of blood, or with .08 grams or more per 210 liters of breath.

First-time OVUII penalties are set without the possibility of probation or suspended sentence. They include a 14-hour substance abuse rehabilitation program, license revocation for one to eighteen months, installation of an ignition interlock device during revocation, and either 72 hours of community service, 48 hours to 5 days in jail, or a fine between $250 and $1,000. A second conviction within 10 years carries at least 30 days in jail, 240 hours of community service, a fine of $500 to $1,500, and a two-year license suspension.

Habitual OVUII under Section 291E-61.5 applies when someone has three prior DUI convictions. It is a Class C Felony with up to five years in prison, mandatory license revocation of one to five years, vehicle forfeiture, and mandatory substance abuse treatment. Urban Honolulu DUI cases are prosecuted by the City and County of Honolulu Department of the Prosecuting Attorney.

Administrative License Revocation: ADLRO

An OVUII arrest in Urban Honolulu triggers two separate processes at the same time. The criminal case is handled by the courts. The administrative case is handled by the Administrative Driver's License Revocation Office, known as ADLRO. These run at the same time and each one can result in a separate penalty.

ADLRO has 8 days from the date of arrest to decide whether to revoke a license. If it decides to revoke, that decision is mailed to the address the driver gave to police at the time of arrest. The revocation can begin as early as 30 days from the arrest date. Drivers have the right to request a hearing before the revocation takes effect. The ADLRO also issues ignition interlock permits and employee driver's permits to eligible drivers whose licenses are under revocation.

ADLRO is located within the Hawaii State Judiciary system. The Chief DUI Adjudicator is Karilee Endow Harada and the Office Manager is Nicole Morrison. Both can be reached at 808-534-6800. Filings can also be sent by email to respondents.ADLRO@courts.hawaii.gov in PDF, JPG, JPEG, or PNG format.

The ADLRO page on the Hawaii State Judiciary website explains the revocation timeline, how to request a hearing, and how ignition interlock permits work for Urban Honolulu residents.

DUI Conviction Rates in Honolulu County

Urban Honolulu DUI cases are filed in the First Circuit Court, which covers all of Oahu including Honolulu County. In fiscal year 2022-2023, the First Circuit finalized 1,711 misdemeanor DUI cases. Of those, 989 resulted in convictions, a rate of 57%. That conviction rate is significantly lower than the statewide average. During the same period, Maui County had a conviction rate of 87%, Kauai was at 73%, and Hawaii island was at 69%.

That same year, the Honolulu Police Department made 1,283 DUI arrests. The Honolulu Prosecutor's Office declined to file charges in roughly 80% of those cases. Not all DUI records that appear in HPD data end up as court cases, and not all court cases end in conviction. This is why it is important to search both the HPD arrest records and the court records separately if you are trying to get a complete picture of someone's DUI history in Urban Honolulu.

Driver History Records and Traffic Abstracts

Driver history records are a separate type of document from traffic abstracts. The Hawaii Department of Transportation manages driver history records, which show citation and preliminary conviction data and are used mainly by commercial drivers. The fee is $9. You can request a driver history record at any district court location, including the Honolulu District Court downtown.

A traffic abstract is the more commonly used document for DUI record searches. It is issued by the Traffic Violations Bureau and shows all alleged moving violations and any convictions, including OVUII, along with any administrative license revocations. It does not include parking or equipment violations. The cost is $20. Mail requests go to the Traffic Violations Bureau at Kauikeaouli Hale, 1111 Alakea Street, Honolulu, HI 96813, phone 808-538-5500.

The Hawaii State Judiciary traffic abstracts page lists all district court locations, fees, and instructions for ordering traffic abstracts by mail or in person across all of Hawaii including Urban Honolulu.

Nearby Cities in Honolulu County

All cities listed above are in Honolulu County and are served by the First Circuit Court and the Honolulu Police Department.